SCHOOL EVENTS + CLASSROOM AUTHOR VISIT
“What a fantastic time SFIS had with Gabrielle Balkan yesterday! She was awesome! She could definitely help instruct anyone on how to connect with young people. She had our students so engaged with movement, discussion, drawing, learning, and having a really fun time! Her visit certainly inspired our students to want to be authors and illustrators!” - Carolyn, Librarian, Saint Francis International School
“Gabrielle's visit was fantastic and so well structured; it was a perfect fit for our 2nd grade students and kept them engaged.” — Alicia Wiechert, Library Information Specalist, Ramona Elementary School
I would love to visit your school, learning pod, teacher's conference, panel, bookstore, kitchen table, and etc! I’m happy to customize + brainstorm ways we can get a plan in the works. Like so many authors and illustrators, I offer as many free and discounted visits as I can. Like so many authors + illustrators, school visits are a portion of my income that is not met by book sales; they allow me some small financial security to continue to research and write for young readers. Thank you for supporting your readers, supporting independent writing, and being a part of all of this!
> As of March 14, 2020, visits will be in-person or virtual based on current CDC guidelines based on COVID-19 transmission rates…which seems to change weekly!
Complete the relevant form to get an idea of options + rates.
• Virtual Author visit form
• In-Person Author Visit form
• Word Read Aloud Day (WRAD)
HOME BOUND ACTIVITIES
Stuck home? I’m slowly collecting some activities to download + print and authors + illustrators to visit with. I hope to get a video of my own together…eventually! Take a peek here!
WHAT A VISIT MIGHT LOOK LIKE
During a typical school visit around The 50 States and 50 Cities, students and I enjoy lively conversations about the different types of maps, how to make editorial choices about what to include in a map, the social responsibilities of a map, and create a map of an invented state, complete with state foods, animals, and mottos.
>> Students love to critique early drafts of my own book and offer suggestions for how to improve other maps we find in newspapers and books.
>> This presentation is PERFECT for students in grades 4-5, and I have enjoyed tweaking the presentation for students as young as 2nd grade and as old as 8th grade.During a typical school visit with Book of Bones and Book of Flight, students and I discuss animal features, decision making in writing, and create a skeleton or diagram of an invented animal, complete with labels describing the animals habitat, diet, and special abilities.
>> Students love to give their best effort while drawing and numbering the neck vertebrae in a human VS giraffe. They also enjoy voting on the best size comparisons for the length of a whale mandible (motorcycles VS mailboxes VS walrus).
>>This presentation is PERFECT for students in grades 2-3, and I have enjoyed tweaking it up down to kindergarten and up to 8th grade.
HOW TO HOST AN AUTHOR VISIT
Personalize this poster - coming soon!
Get Started: Planning, Fundraising, and Tips for Success - Scholastic
How to Host An Author, From an Author - The Outreach Librarian + Cynthia Leitich Smith
Authors Share Their Best School Visits - Publisher's Weekly
How to Make an Author Visit Affordable - Kristin Tubb
How to Make an Author Visit Effective - Kristin Tubb
25 Tips for Hosting an Awesome Author Visit! - Sarah McIntyre
How to Fund an Author Visit - Steve Layne
ORDERING BOOKS FOR AN AUTHOR VISIT
Start the process about six weeks before your event.
Download and personalize this...
Book of Bones + Book of Flight order form - coming soon!
50 States + 50 Cities + Book of Bones order form - coming soon!
OR: Your local bookstore can make one for you
via your local local bookstore! Some stores offer bulk discounts (when 50 copies of the same title are ordered) and/or educator discounts.
Your local bookstore will need the following:
Event Date
Delivery & Location Address
ISBN(s) for the book(s)
Quantity you need per ISBNvia Scholastic Book Clubs. Book of Bones is sometimes available for a $9 paperback.
SHOP
Find links to each of my books — all on one page.
TEACHERS
A few free download-ables for the classroom.
THE MAKING BOOKS BLOG
A few behind-the-scenes moments.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Saturday, August 24: 3:30 - 4:30 pm
Book Signing at the Library of Congress National Book Festival's 2024 Great Reads Youth Celebration
Roadmap to Reading Hall DE (2nd floor)Sat, Sept 14, 2024: 1-2:30 p.m.
What a Map Can Do Author Visit + Activity RSVP required
Indiana Center for the Book
Indianapolis, INTBD, 2024: 3 - 5 pm
How to be a Witch Book Party [RSVP link to come]
Germantown Library, Germantown, NYSat, Sept 28, 2024: 10 - 4 pm
Chappaqua Children's Book Festival
Chappaqua Train Station, NYSat, Oct 5, 2024: 11 am - 4 pm
Princeton Children’s Book Festival
Princeton Public Library
Hinds Plaza; Princeton, NJ 08542TBC: Sun, Oct 20, 2024
Maplewood South Orange (MAPSO) Book Festival
Maplewood, NJTBC: November 2024
Brooklyn Museum Children’s Book Fair
200 Eastern Parkway; Brooklyn, New York 11238TBD: April 2025: 10 am - 3 pm
Poughkeepsie Book Festival
Dutchess Community College
53 Pendell Road, Poughkeepsie Falcon HallTBC: Sat, May 3, 2025
Hudson Children’s Book Festival
215 Harry Howard Avenue Hudson, NY 12534Thursday, August 28, 2025
Fort Wayne College & Career Readiness
Fort Wayne, IndianaTBC: Sun, May 2026
Sullivan County Youth Book Festival
479 Broadway, Monticello, NY
PROFESSIONAL EVENTS
Sing, Talk, Read, and MOVE: Engaging the Brain, Body, and Senses through Nonfiction Picture Books with authors Gabrielle Balkan, Rekha S. Rajan, Jessica Ralli, Dan Saks, and Joshua David Stein (presenter)
ALA San Diego 2024Nov: SCBWI Nonfiction Workshop (attendee)
Sept 10: Five Kinds of Nonfiction: Understanding the Children’s Publishing Market with Melissa Stewart (attendee)
Aug 18 - 21: Reinventing the Author Visit with Kate Messner and Julie Hedlund (attendee)
VIRTUAL EVENTS
Sun, July 9, 2023: 4 - 5 pm, EST
Fascinating Middle Grade NF with Books of WonderThur, Feb 1, 2024: 9 am - 3 pm, EST
World Read Aloud Day
Sign-up for a free 20-min session here!
LISTEN ANYTIME! RECORDED INTERVIEWS
ArmchairTravel with authors Megan C. Hayes, Kate Siber, and me! with Quarto’s Author Chats
Vanessa Denha-Garmo on "It's Your Community" with News/Talk AM760 WJR, 96.3 FM WDVD and 93.1 NASH-FM
Kathy Dalton with Go Adventure Mom
PAST EVENTS
An Open Book Foundation, Washington, D.C.
Barnes and Noble, Indianapolis, IN
Books are Magic, Brooklyn, NY
Books of Wonder, NYC, NY
Brooklyn Book Bodega, Brooklyn, NY
The Brain Lair, South Bend, IN
The Co-op School Winter Fair, Brooklyn NY
Glen Rock Children’s Book Festival with Curious Reader, Glen Rock, NJ
Germantown Public Library, Germantown, NY
Greenlight Bookstore, Brooklyn, NY
ISTA, Indianapolis, IN
MAPSO: Maplewood South Orange Book Fair, Maplewood, NJ
McNally Jackson, New York, NY
Osher Map Library, Portland, ME
Politics & Prose, Washington, D.C.
Poughkeepsie Book Festival, Poughkeepsie, NY
Takoma Park Maryland Library, Takoma, MD
SCBWI Winter Conference, New York, NY
Wild Rumpus, Minneapolis, MN
World Read Aloud Day, ALL ACROSS THE USA
PAST SCHOOLS
Bank Street, New York, NY
Battery Park School, New York, NY
Bittersweet Elementary, Mishawaka, IN
Center for Inquiry, Indianapolis, IN
Community Roots Charter School, Brooklyn, NY
The Co-op School, Brooklyn, NY
Delphi Community Elementary School, Delphi, IN
Friends Seminary, New York, NY
Germantown Elementary School, Germantown, NY
Girls Prep, New York, NY
Grace Church, Brooklyn, NY
Greenwich County Day School, Greenwich, CT
Far Hills Country Day School, Far Hills, NJ
John Burroughs Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
Hunter College, New York, NY
Horizon Elementary, Granger, IN
Leckie Elementary School, Washington, D.C.
Mason Crest Elementary, Fairfax, VA
Meadow's Edge Elementary, Mishawaka, IN
PS62, Queens, NY
PS107, Brooklyn, NY
PS118, Brooklyn, NY
PS32 State Street School, Flushing, NY
Radburn Elementary, Fairlawn, NJ
Saint Francis International School, Silver Spring, MD
The Co-op School, Brooklyn, NY
The School at Columbia, New York, NY
West EC, Washington, D.C.